Woman&#39;s skirt.



PATENTED DEC. 19, 1905.

E. L. PHELPS.

WOMANS SKIRT.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 10 v1904.

' of the bottom of the skirt and T OFFICE.

' ERNEST LESLIE PHELPS, OF TORONTO, CANADA.

WOMANS SKIRT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 19, 1905.

Application filed NovemberlO, 1904. Serial No. 232,151.

To all whom ,it may concern.-

' Beit known that I, ERNEST LEsLIE PHELPs, of the city of Toronto, in the county of York, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Womens Skirts, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in womens skirts; and the object of the invention is to devise a simple way of forming the front of a skirt so that the waist and hip dimensions may be increased in the center front Without changing the position or hang revent the skirt from protruding out at the ottom during the period that a woman is increasing in size around the waist and hips and at the same time provide for the reducing of the dimensions around the waist and hip without affecting the hang of the skirt when a woman becomes thinner; and it consists, essentially, of a skirt having a front panel connected at each side to the main body of the skirt by a tapered double fold, such fold being widest at the top and the top ends of the panel being fastened at the outer fold to the waistband and at the inner fold intermediate of the width of the panel at each side and suitable means being provided for fastening the outer fold of the panel from top to bottom, as hereinafter more particularly explained. v

Figure l is a perspective view showing a skirt on a figure exhibited in its contracted form. Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan showing the skirt in its contracted form. Fig. '3 is a similar view to Fig. 1, showing the skirt in its expanded form. Fig. 4 is a large perspective detail of a portion of a skirt, showing the panel in its expanded form and its connections. Fig. 5 is a sectional plan showing the panel in its contracted form and its connections.

In the drawings like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each figure.

A is a skirt, and A the front panel. The

front panel is connected to the main body of the skirt by a double fold a a at each side, which fold is of the greatest width at the waist-line and gradually narrows down toward the bottom of the skirt.

When the skirt is in its contracted form, the edge of the outer fold is connected to the main body of the skirt by the hooksand eyes 2 and 3, respectively, and the edge of the inner fold is connected to the center panel by the hooks and eyes 4 and 5, respectively, as indicated clearly in Figs. 2 and 5. When not in its expanded form, the eye 3 is moved along the band into the position shown in Fig. 4, close to the fold, the position of the eye being determined, of course, by the Width of the double fold a a, this of course again depending upon the dimensions of the woman at the waist and hips. The eye 3 would of course be moved correspondingly on each side of the panel on the waistband A The center hooks 4 and 5 would then be moved into the position shown in Fig. 41, close to the edge of the center fold, and thereby the panel held securely in place at the to of the skirt and necessarily narrowing the ouble fold at each side of the panel.

The edges of the panel are fastened together by any suitable fastener, such as What is commonly known as a -spring-stem and socket-glove fastener.

From this description it will be seen that I have provided a simple means for increasing the waist and hip dimensions of a skirt without affecting the bottom of the skirt and allowing it to protrude when the woman increases in size around the hips and waist.

What I claim as my invention is- In combination with a skirt, a panel extending vertically and connected to the main body by folds, one at each side of the panel, said sides overlying the body of the skirt and said panel concealing the folds when the skirt-body is in the contracted condition, means for connecting that part of the main body where the folds join it to the back of the panel and means for connecting the sides of the panel and the folds to the waistband, said means extending across the space between the said sides and the skirt.

ERNEST LESLIE PHELPS.

Witnesses B. BOYD, E. B. SHEFFIELD. 

